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Three Matters decided by the Virginia Governor’s Council July 9, 1640

This is a story of three indentured servants who run away from their master, are caught 10 days later and brought before the court to decide their fate. This is also the first know legal distinction between white and black servants legally defining the black servant as a slave. As a result of this ruling, the black servant is sentenced to life slavery while the two other men, being white, receive increased time as indentured servants.


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